CT to evaluate bids to run Green Point stadium

Cape Town - Three tenders, involving seven business entities, have been submitted to run Cape Town's Green Point stadium and Common after the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Tenders closed on 10 July 2007 and were submitted to the City of Cape Town.

Mike Marsden, Executive Director for Service Delivery Integration, said that 29 tender documents were drawn and three tenders were received.

"Some of the tenders constituted combined offers. Quality matters more than quantity," he said.

Earlier this year, Investec stepped in to underwrite a R185 million funding shortfall on the stadium.

The group had calculated the projected net present-day discounted income from the stadium as being able to cover the shortfall.

"The City's procurement committee will now verify the bids to see if they comply with tender specifications.

"This would be followed by a bid evaluation committee hearing to analyse and evaluate bids," said Mr Marsden.

The next step would be an open sitting of the bid adjudication committee for the award. The process is expected to be completed within the next month.

According to Mr Marsden, there was a tender from a single company, another involving two companies, and the third was a joint venture between four companies.

"Council is not yet in a position to divulge the names or details of the proposals. This tender is different from others in that it will not be evaluated on a final contract price."

Among other adjudication criteria the evaluation will consider how much the city would be paid for the use of the stadium after 2010 when the top tier of seating would be removed, reverting to the stadium to a 55 000 seater multi-purpose stadium from its initial 68 000 capacity.

"It is envisaged that the operator will fit the stadium out to meet their needs. The seating removed after the world cup could for instance be replaced by executive suites to improve the commercial return on the stadium," suggested Mr Marsden.

He said the tender was also expected to address the potential income to be generated for the upkeep of the Green Point Common.

The council has committed R120 million for the redevelopment of the Common as part of the 2010 project.

After an extensive public participation process the City is awaiting final approval from the MEC, Tasneem Essop, before commencing the detailed design and redevelopment of the Common.

There will be ten stadia used during the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2010 and fixtures will be played in ten stadia across the country.

Five venues are being renovated to comply with FIFA's requirements and five others are to be built from scratch.

Construction has started on all the five arenas to be newly built.

The renovations of four of the stadiums set to host 2010 fixtures are to be complete by December 2008.

Along with Loftus Stadium in the capital city, the other arenas to be refurbished are Vodacom Park in Mangaung, Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg and Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Stadia to be completed by October 2009, are Mbombela in Nelspruit, Peter Mokaba (Polokwane), Nelson Mandela Bay, Green Point (Cape Town) Moses Mabhida (Durban) and Soccer City in Johannesburg.